Empty
by Draikinator
Summary: Naruto: One poor and unfortunate soul, abandoned by all of those around him. Sasuke: A rich and unfortunate soul whose life should have been perfect. Can these two make their unfortunate, empty lives mean something? .::Sasunaru::. AU fic
1. Lonely

Empty

It was a bright morning. The sun was glaring off of anything that gave off even the dullest reflection, the birds were chirping in that annoying-yet-cheerful manner they always did on such days, and only thing upsetting the morning was the fact that Naruto Uzamaki's alarm clock hadn't gone off.

"I'm late! I'm late! Why the HELL haven't you gone off??" Naruto screamed pointlessly at his alarm clock. Upon banging at the back off it, it became suddenly apparent his last two batteries had gone dead. Naruto swore, and leapt out of bed, scrambling around the floor for something decent to wear. Maybe if I had the money to wash clothes more than twice a month, he thought bitterly, I could have something I wouldn't have to SNIFF every morning to see if it was too embarrassing to wear in public!

Finally finding something that wasn't too far gone to the dark side of scents, he skidded out his bedroom door, yanking the day-glow orange shirt over his head, into the remaining space of the quiet and empty apartment. He yanked his fridges door open, forgetting he had to be careful, less it come off again. Naruto sniffed his last milk carton, then scrunched up his face in disgust and promptly turned it over his sink (even though it was full of dishes) only to have a lump of sour milk land on a cracked plate with a sickening splat.

"…No breakfast today then."

Sasuke Uchiha, however, had started his morning on a very different note. His alarm clock had gone off promptly on time, allowing the dark haired boy to wander with no hurry down his own quiet, though considerably longer, hallways. He took a leisurely shower, the water turned up so that if was so hot it almost burnt his skin. But the oh-so-pale Sasuke liked it that way. His towel was embroidered, in addition to being pure cotton.

He flipped idly through his extensive closet of clothes that were both designer and expensive, before settling on one that was dark blue and matched his hair well. He took his pick of fresh food from his kitchen, all locally grown or made. Finally, the sixteen year picked up his wallet and ambled over to his garage to pick out a car to drive to school.

These two, no matter how independent they may seem, are children in essence.

And these children are alone.

Sasuke was bombarded by lusting females the instant he parked. They had been _waiting_ for him this time. He had to not-very-nicely refuse them to get through the crowd, and was still fairing far better than Naruto, who at this point had had to run all the way to school and was barely breathing by the time he skidded into his first period classroom, barely seconds after the late bell sounded.

"Uzamaki. You're late again." His teacher, Mr. Kakashi, marked something an the attendance roll.

"Just be glad I'm here…" Naruto grumbled under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

It was only a few minutes into the day's lesson, when Naruto's eyes began to betray him, straying towards the most popular boy in school. Sasuke wasn't even doing anything, just sitting. He didn't even have to take notes. He was a real prodigy, all his teachers said. He made straight A's in every class he'd ever taken, never had to worry about what he ate, excelled at any sport he tried, was one of the richest people in the entire town, and to top it all off, had every girl of every age group after his virginity.

Naruto could physically feel his thoughts comparing himself.

He had to work harder than anyone else in the entire school to maintain his D+ average, couldn't worry about what he ate if he needed to because of lack of funds, was a failure in basic Phys. Ed, was one of the poorest people in town (who wasn't homeless), and had been rejected by every girl he'd ever asked on a date.

Worst of all, his attractions had now taken a disturbing turn toward Sasuke Uchiha against his will.

He was jolted violently out of his thoughts by the shrill sound of the bell. Silently, Naruto shouldered his bag, and ambled off towards English, before changing his mind and turning towards the closest Mcdonalds instead.

It was during lunch period, after the third period he had actually returned for, that Naruto was confronted by two very, very annoyed girls from his class. The first was the pink haired beauty of the school, Sakura Haruno, whom Naruto had asked out three times to be finally rejected in the most humiliating way, and the second he vaguely recalled to be named Ino. She was only in one of his classes, so he barely knew her.

"Okay, Naruto, give it up," Sakura accused harshly, cornering the agitated Naruto, "We've seen the way you've been looking at MY-" Ino gave her a sharp glare, "-OUR Sasuke, and you'd better back off!" She said, as if her words would have much of an effect. She didn't exactly look very threatening.

Naruto was silent.

"If you ever make a move, I swear I'll-"

"You'll what?" He asked dangerously.

"I'll- I'll-" She stuttered, searching for lost words.

"It doesn't matter anyway. He's all yours, honestly."  
Both girls paused at this.

Naruto's face softened involuntarily, "I'd rather have someone I care about happy with you… than miserable with me." His eyes looked lost, as if watching some painful memory. Then his face hardened, and he brushed past his frozen accusers, and disappeared into the lunch crowd.


	2. Unfamiliar Car

Empty

Perhaps it was about the time that school ended that the whole affair started. Surely, before that, there had never been any change in Naruto's life.

It had always remained a constant to him. Sour milk and cracked plates. Old batteries and instant ramen. The epidemy of his life had been the night where he'd actually gone to a real ramen booth and bought himself a birthday dinner. Of course, he'd had to skip two meals that day to get the money to do that.

But the end of that day had been very, very different.

"Hey, dobe." _Well, that's not very nice._ Was the first thing that entered Naruto's mind. Of course, Naruto didn't think whoever had said it had said it to _him_. There were two reasons for this. One, Naruto was known as very dangerous to be around, with no parents to scold him, he lashed out violently a lot. Second, no one ever really talked to him anyway.

"Anybody home? Yeah, dobe, I mean you, Naruto." Naruto was caught off guard, and whirled around, to see the calm, cool Sasuke Uchiha leaning against a shiny black car that Naruto failed to recognize.

"Me?" He coughed out stupidly, then mentally smacked himself. _Idiot!_

"Last I check your name was Naruto. Have you changed it?"

Naruto's only response was a low growl.

"I just wanted to know if you wanted a ride home?" Sasuke seemed to be very, very interested in Naruto's response. Naruto froze- _yes! Yes, please! I live miles from here! And a ride with YOU, Sasuke-_

"No thanks," he found his lips saying smartly.

"You sure? Last I checked you lived in a really dangerous neighborhood.

"Yeah, well, I've lived there awhile. You learn how to defend yourself eventually, so, if you will kindly get out of my way-" Naruto tried to sidestep Sasuke, but the raven-haired boy with the cool smirk stepped in front of him.

"Really. I insist."

"…Fine." Naruto said grudgingly, though his heart leapt.

"So…" Sasuke said, hoping Naruto might respond with some snide comment or _something._ He'd been silent for awhile now.

Naruto remained quiet.

"What d'you wear neon orange for, anyway?"

"What's it to you?" Naruto snapped.

"You really don't care what other people think about you, do you?"

"On the contrary. I find what you think to be quite amusing."

"I guess that's good to know."

"What's up with you, anyway?" Naruto's voice seemed less sharp this time, actually genuinely curios.

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you being nice to me?"

"…I just happened to be wandering near Sakura and Ino during lunch today…"

Naruto's heart caught viciously, and suddenly, he found it very hard to breath. He dropped his eyes.

"…Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize."

"…I…I just…"

"You just what?"

"I don't want to screw up any one else's life with mine." His voice was quiet, hardly audible.

"I get it now."

"Get... what?"

"You're a really, really good guy in there, aren't you? You're hiding all your hurt inside behind a dangerous face."

"I don't-"

"You tell people to go away and yell at anyone nice to you because your afraid to hurt them, right?"

"…What would you know about me, anyway?" He snapped, suddenly very guarded.

"I know plenty about you. You and me are a lot alike, Naruto."

"Like what?" Naruto growled.

"I know you've been alone since you were a baby. I know what that feels like, too."

"…I… I…" He struggled, "I bet your parents have told you all about me, yeah. Bet it's great to have things like that, huh?" He snarled, trying to regain some of his earlier composure.

"Parents? I don't have any of those."

There was a painful silence.

"Maybe you are a lot like me." Naruto glanced out the window, "This is my stop. Thanks… for, for the ride, I guess…" Sasuke stopped the car, and Naruto opened the door, stepping out.

Sasuke struggled with a pained expression on his face, "Hey!" he called after Naruto, before he could shut the door.

"Yeah?"

"How… How 'bout I treat you to ramen?"

Had Sasuke said anything else, Naruto would have said no. But ramen… ramen was too irresistible. Naruto just wasn't strong enough.


	3. Will You Buy Me Ramen?

Empty

Naruto was already halfway finished with his first bowl.

He was eating like someone was about to snatch it out from under his nose, and for all he expected, it might just happen. Sasuke was watching with mild concern for his new friend's dietary habits, and had completely and utterly forgotten what he had wanted to say.

"More." Naruto mumbled semi incoherently, then grabbed Sasuke's barely touched bowl, and started wolfing that down too.

"Um…. Purely out of curiosity, have you ever eaten before?" Sasuke commented.

Naruto looked up, paused, slurped up the noodles in his mouth, and shook his head.

"That's… um, not good."

"No, it's not, but this is." Naruto tilted his head back, draining the bowl of it's contents. He looked around for another.

"Hey, 'nother bowl please." Sasuke called to one of the cooks.

"Thanks, Sasuke!" Naruto said, suddenly very appreciative, "I never knew you could be nice before."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"it just means a preppy rich guy like you shouldn't be randomly nice to people- oh, hey, thanks-" he said, grabbing for the new bowl of ramen, "-I mean, you got all the girls in school following you like lost puppies, tends to make people pretty conceited." He slurped loudly, and gave the cook a compliment that would have sounded over-the-top had it come from anyone else.

"Yeah, well, I'm not really interested in any of them." Sasuke commented idly, receiving his own new bowl.

"Hm? Why not?" Naruto asked casually, stealing Sasuke's second bowl.

"You haven't even finished that one yet…" Sasuke mumbled, and Naruto smiled brightly through the noodles.

"Honestly," Sasuke continued, "I'm more interested in you."

That was when Naruto stopped eating. Sasuke had realized from the time Naruto got his first bowl that he was practically starving himself, and was then justly surprised when Naruto shoved the bowl away, eyes dark and averted.

"Thanks for the ramen." He whirled away, to Sasuke's shock, and disappeared into the twilit town.

Surprisingly enough, the next day was completely normal. Sasuke said nothing to Naruto, Naruto didn't act uncomfortable in any way; Sasuke's obsessive fangirls followed him like normal.

After school that day, Sasuke waited, hoping to catch his blond friend before he could leave, and offer him another ride. Naruto didn't show.

Naruto, against his better judgment, had taken the back route out of school that day. To the average person, it was as safe as any other route. To Naruto, it meant a ninety-five percent chance of getting jumped.

He was betting on the five percent. Of course, it didn't work out that way.

"Hey, Kitsune! You're in Snake territory-" Came the low growl from a dark alley, Naruto stopped, instinctively shouldering his bag, getting ready to make a break for it.

"How many times do I have to tell you jerks-" he said as one stepped in front of him, "I'm not a Kitsune. My dad was. _I'm not him._"

"Ninth generation gang, sure your not." One of the paler ones said, licking his lips. Naruto's lips twitched, _revolting,_ he thought.

"I guess you're not just going to let me go, huh." Naruto said darkly, dropping his bag.

"Not until after we teach you not to step into our territory again…" they were blocking all the exits he could take, Naruto noticed. _Damn you, Dad… why the hell did you pass on the Kitsune name to me, anyway??_

"I'm in no mood for learning today."

"That's not really your choice, now, is it?" The Snakes attacked.

The next day, Sasuke noticed Naruto was wearing a long sleeve shirt, even though it was summer. More disturbingly, there was a large bandage on both sides of his face, and just the tiniest dots of blood had seeped through.

That day, Naruto went out the front way.

He passed Sasuke in the parking lot, who did, as Naruto had expected, stop him.

"Do you want a ride home?"

Again, Naruto's first impulse was to say yes. "No." He said, as if he were stomping on his own heart in the process.

"Now I just don't get it." He commented, when Naruto failed to keep walking, "You already admitted you liked me. And now I've said I liked you-" There was a squeak of horror behind them, and Sasuke had the feeling he'd just broken some poor girl's heart- "So why won't you even talk to me?"

"Of course you don't get it. I already told you- you don't know anything about me." Naruto's thoughts strayed toward yesterday's jump. He was a good fighter… but he had nothing against five guys. And if he ever got close to anyone, the Snakes wouldn't hesitate to hurt them, to…

Naruto tried to make a break for it, but Sasuke had been expecting it, and literally jumped on the escaping blond, tackling him to the ground.

"You're getting a damn ride home!"

Of course, Naruto ended up politely accepting the ride.

"Alright. Spill." Sasuke said, glancing sideways at his stubborn passenger.

Naruto was silent for a moment. "Okay. I'm secretly a ninja."

Sasuke was not amused.

"Okay, okay, fine. Will you buy me more ramen if I say something?" Naruto said hopefully.

"Yes. Yes I will."

"Okay. Something."

"Elaborate. _Right now._"

"Sorry, sorry- nevermind. Where do I start…?" He trailed off quietly.

"I guess…" Naruto said finally, "The best place would be…

"The beginning…"

Thanks for reading!!

And thanks for the reviews! They make me happy inside. :3 It's so nice to know people actually READ the crap I regurgitate onto my computer.

Naruto: ew. That's nasty, draik.

Me: Aw, shaddup. You make the writer mad, and I'll have you beat up again!

Naruto: Eep! Nuuu!

Sasuke: I'll save you, mah love!! *leaps into action*

Me: Wait! If you kill the author, you'll never lose your virginity!

Sasuke: *pause* Am I going to lose my virginity in this story?

Me: Well… erm…. No, actually, I rated this one T….

Sasuke: … *kills draik*

Me: X_x


	4. Warmth

Empty

"What's the beginning, anyway…?

"Maybe when I was born…? Did that start it…?

"No, not possible. Earlier than that, surely. Maybe the beginning of time… But I guess I'll only go as far back as my dad.

"He was in this gang, y'see. The Kitsunes. Great big gang. Very well known. Still are, if you know anything about gangs. Their rivals are the Snakes. They call their leader 'Orochimaru,' I hear… But that's irrelevant. No one knew what my dad was. He kept it very secret, and everyone loved him. They still do… even when they know…" Naruto paused.

"But right after I was born, he wanted to quit. At least, that's what the letters said. Of course they wouldn't allow that, and the Kitsune's killed my dad. I don't even know what happened to my mom during all this. For all I know, she's in this town and just doesn't care. I wouldn't blame her if she didn't want me… It's not like anyone else does…" His face softened, and his bright eyes lost a little of their glimmer.

"I… I was left in the care of the town. But they knew I was the son of a gang member, and a prominent gang member in a dangerous gang. They all just assumed I'd turn out as bad. Maybe I did. I don't know. I don't even really care. All that really matters at this point is that I'm living off of a monthly allowance the town gives me as long as I don't get in any trouble- it's already barely enough to live on and the damn school won't give me permission to get a job, and even if I _did_, no one will even _hire_ me."

Naruto yanked up his sleeve, revealing a very marked up arm, coated in bloody marks and bruises, "I got jumped again yesterday by the god damn snakes who think I'm a Kitsune, and the freaks _branded _me." He growled, tugging at the corner of one of the bandages on his face. "_Fox whiskers._" He growled, touching the still red lines on his face.

There was a long silence.

"There you go. The entirety of my life. Gangs, dirt poor, jumps, orphan, the works. It's not really impressive… now that I think about it, but that's what it is. Gangs are dirty. Underhanded. And the last time someone tried to be my friend… it lasted about two months. Two really great months. Then they found him dead in a sewer on the outskirts of town. I'm done with ties to other people." Naruto looked mournful, his eyes lost and far away. Then they snapped back into place, and he looked over at Sasuke.

"I know you've been circling my house for ten minutes, now. You can let me out."

Sasuke might have stopped the car. He might have said something kind. He might have even said nothing at all. This is not what Sasuke did. "No. I'm not going to do that."

"And why the hell not?"

"I'm not totally useless. I can defend myself, you know."

"And you think I can't? And I still get these?" Naruto pointed viciously at his whiskers.

"I'll hire a bodyguard."

"Those are expensive."

"Money isn't a problem."

"And what if the whole god damn gang shows up at your doorstep?" Naruto challenged.

"I'll buy a cannon. I've always wanted an excuse to get one."

"Someone will notice a cannon. It's pretty conspicuous."

"I'll put smiley face stickers on it. No one ever expects anything bad from something covered in smiley face stickers."

"And if-" However, Naruto was cut short by two fierce lips on his- and that's where the complaint died, and Naruto decided it was worth the risk.

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So the next day, Konoha High had the most popular and least popular boys in school enter through the doors holding hands and very much together.

Sasuke did feel guilty about all of the crying girls, though.

But for the first time in his life, Naruto felt truly happy. He didn't hear any of the angrier fangirl's sneers, he didn't see any of the looks. All Naruto was aware of that day was the warm hand in his, and the fact he knew that someone wanted him.

That day, Naruto found a new carton of milk on his doorstep.

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Draik: Well, that's it, folks! I know you wanted this one to be longer… but… I'm no so good with long… Anyway, the next chapter might be longer. :D And don't worry, the really good stuff starts after this.

Naruto: But- but- you're crazy! By 'good stuff' you mean I get beat up again, don't you!

Draik: …only in spirit…

Naruto: Aha!

Draik: Silence! *whips out deathnote*

Naruto and Sasuke: Gasp!

*Light Yagami pops up*

Light: Sorry guys. Copyrights. Wrong fanfiction. Big no no. *takes deathnote* *poof*

Draik: …

Sasuke: Mah love! You are safe!

Draik: note so fast! *whips out yaoi note*

Naruto: …

Sasuke: …

Draik: …right bad idea… Um… how about… *shuffles in pockets*

Draik: My… erm… shopping list note!

Naruto: ..Whu…?

Draik: *scribbles*

Naruto: *boop!*

Sasuke: Naru-kun? Naruuuu?

Naruto: Sudden- urge- to buy- tub- of mayonnaise! *turns away*

Draik: bwahaha.

Sasuke: …Mayonnaise…?

Draik: … I need sammiches…

(two hours later)

Sasuke: Where Naru?

Draik: Duh, arguing with a cashier. Like I gave him the funds in this story to buy groceries.

Sasuke: …I'll go help…

Reviews are love!!


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